


Kingdom Hearts: Watching Their Fate

by ThatExistentialCrisis



Series: *Totally* Original Watching the Future/Movies/Show Fics to Cure Boredom [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Aqua & Terra & Ventus Are Family (Kingdom Hearts), Axel & Roxas Friendship (Kingdom Hearts), Characters Watching Kingdom Hearts, Disney References, F/M, Gen, Kairi & Riku & Sora Friendship (Kingdom Hearts), Keyblade Wielder Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Keyblade Wielder Lea (Kingdom Hearts), Kingdom Hearts I Spoilers, Minor Kairi/Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé & Riku Friendship (Kingdom Hearts), Not Beta Read, Parental Aqua (Kingdom Hearts), Pre-Kingdom Hearts III, Pre-Kingdom Hearts III - Limit Cut, Pre-Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, Riku Angst (Kingdom Hearts), Riku Is Bad at Feelings (Kingdom Hearts), Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:08:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29299395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatExistentialCrisis/pseuds/ThatExistentialCrisis
Summary: Alright, I confess. I got bored and instead of working on any other draft of mine, I went back and revived this idea from August 2020. Here I present the Kingdom Hearts edition of 'characters watching their *whatever*' that absolutely no one asked for. Seriously, I tried looking for these kinds of fics and there was only one. And it was kind of old.So here. Take it. The title is self-explanatory.
Relationships: Aqua & Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Aqua & Terra & Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Axel & Roxas (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi & Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi/Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Lea & Roxas (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé & Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Riku & Terra (Kingdom Hearts), Roxas & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Sora & Ventus (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: *Totally* Original Watching the Future/Movies/Show Fics to Cure Boredom [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2151921
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	1. Kingdom Hearts 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Inspired by _Watch and Learn_ by spiralheartz on AO3.**
> 
> **I will be posting this only on AO3. I really like “The Characters Watch/Read …” kind of fics so when I found very little for the KH fandom I decided to write one myself.**
> 
> **For context, Sora, Kairi, Riku, Ventus, Aqua, Terra, Lea/Axel, Roxas, and Namine will be the only characters watching. Ventus, Aqua, and Terra are from the night before the Mark of Mastery. Lea, Roxas, and Namine are (technically) from the end of DDD, when Lea gets his keyblade; of course, this doesn't mean much for the latter two as they were still with Sora and Kairi respectively. Sora, Kairi, and Riku are from right at the end of KH2, as everyone was having their moment on the beach.**
> 
> **Disclaimers: I do not own any _characters_ or anything in _the official Kingdom Hearts canon._ ******

The first thing Sora noticed was the lack of warmth, or more accurately, the lack of the sun’s warmth. It wasn’t cold but it also wasn’t warm like the sun on the beach. He was sitting on something cool and uncomfortable, certainly not the hot but tolerable sand. There wasn’t even the sound of waves or the others’ voices… 

Sora startled, eyes flying open.“Riku! Kairi?”

He quickly covered his eyes, not yet adjusted to the light. Slower this time, Sora removed his arm, taking in the room. It was a large and colorful hall, with an ornate, flower-shaped window at the other end. Light from outside the windows illuminated the room, so it must have been midday at least. He sat in the middle of three white thrones at the head of the hall. Kairi sat on the throne to his left, and Riku to his right. Neither had stirred from his earlier outburst.

“Riku?” Sora tried again. He reached out, slightly shaking the silver-haired boy in hope of a response. He had just gotten him back, surely something wouldn’t ruin that so soon? Right? Thankfully, before Sora could panic, his eyes fluttered open with a groan.

“Sora? Where are we?”

“Uh,” Sora rubbed the back of his neck. That was a good question. “I don’t really know.”

“Sora? Riku?” The two turned to the girl on the other throne. She blinked, rubbing her eyes and frowning as she stood. She seemed okay, if not confused, which was relieving. “What happened? We just got home.”

Sora grimaced, taking Kairi’s example and getting up. The last thing he remembered was washing up on the islands after he and Riku escaped the Realm of Darkness. Before that, they had beat Xemnas. He certainly didn’t remember going to… wherever this place was, and he was fairly confident no one who would hurt them had been on the beach. Some part of him thought the place was painfully familiar, but Sora figured he’d remember visiting. “Well, maybe we should take a look around. There could be someone here who knows something.”

“Or the one who brought us here,” Riku agreed, joining them. 

Turns out, they didn’t have to go far. The three of them took a few steps forward when a bright flash of light illuminated the hall. When the light died down, three people were left in its wake. The first was a tall red-head in a black coat, stumbling slightly as he regained his bearings. The second was a blonde boy, who shared a look of surprise and confusion with Sora. And last, with equal surprise, was a blonde girl in a white dress clutching a drawing pad to her chest. 

“Woah, wha- Roxas? Namine?”

“Axel?”

“Axel! Roxas! Namine!”

How had they gotten here? What was going on? Sora had just gone through an entire journey being left in the dark, and this time wasn’t any better! Though, it was reassuring to see them again.

“Hold up,” Riku said, making a ‘time out’ symbol with his hands. “How are you guys here? That shouldn’t be possible.”

“How’d I know?” Axel shrugged. Then he blinked in surprise. “How’s your hair long again?”

“My… hair?”

“Riku hasn’t cut his hair,” Kairi stepped in, frowning softly. 

Sora nodded. “I mean - we just got back to the islands! It’s not like he’d have time to.”

“No,” Axel insisted. “You guys have been home for a bit now. In fact, you two were just at the old Yin Sid’s place with me! Right?”

The three islanders looked at each other. Sora wasn’t exactly sure what Axel was going on about. Riku, as far as he knew, hadn’t cut his hair and definitely wouldn’t have met up with the Nobody at the Mysterious Tower. The two of them hadn’t even gotten to change clothes after their swim in the ocean. Speaking of which, how were they dry? And judging by Riku’s look of confusion, he agreed.

“No-”

“Urgh! Hold on a second! Shouldn’t we be more concerned about where we even are, not whose memory is the worst?” Roxas yelled, scowling.

“You’re in the Land of Departure,” a new voice rang through the hall. The six turned to face the newcomers, standing defensively. At the lead was a young woman with blue hair, a slight frown on her otherwise impassive face. Beside her was also a young man, possibly the same age, scowling suspiciously at them. To her other side was a boy, probably the same age as Sora himself, who looked nearly identical to Roxas in every way but clothes.

“Huh!?” they both exclaimed. Heck, even their looks of surprise were practically the same. It was kind of surreal, in a cool way.

“Woah! You look like me!” The blonde boy took a step back, but his expression betrayed nothing but curiosity.

“Hey, if anything it’s you who looks like me,” Roxas retorted, crossing his arms. Sora couldn’t help but snicker at his Nobody’s offended expression. 

“We should be more concerned with where we are, not who stole who’s look,” Axel mocked. He got an elbow to the ribs for his troubles.

“Besides, she just told us where we are,” Sora said. Looking to the bluenette, he rubbed the back of his neck. “Hi, I’m Sora! And this is Riku, Kairi, Roxas, Axel, and Namine.”

“We’re sorry to intrude,” Namine finally spoke up. “But we don’t know how we got here.”

The brown-haired man crossed his arms. Something in the way he spoke was reminiscent of Riku. “And why should we believe you?”

“Terra,” the woman scolded. “There is no reason to completely distrust them yet.”

Riku met the man’s gaze. “Did you bring us here?” 

“What? No way!” the boy said. He seemed familiar in a way, but Sora didn’t remember meeting another Roxas. That was something he’d never forget. “Oh! And my name’s Ventus, but just call me Ven.”

“My name is Aqua, and this is Terra. This is our home, but we didn’t bring you here.”

Axel made to retort, but before he could another blinding light filled the room. Once it disappeared, added to the hall were chairs, couches, and bean bags. At the foot of the thrones was an odd black box of sorts with a weird device at its base. A letter floated down into Sora’s hands, sealed nice and neat with a mickey shaped stamp.

Riku, who had looked over Sora’s shoulder, hummed. “That’s the king's seal.”

“Yeah,” Sora agreed. “I wonder what it’s about.” Was the king involved in this? Did he even know? His Majesty was at the beach when they disappeared, but wouldn’t he have said something before? Sora didn’t know, but that just made him open it ten times faster.

_“Dear Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aqua, Terra, Ventus, Axel, Roxas, and Namine,” Sora read. “This is Merlin, and I come from the future after a terrible battle.”_

“As in, the wizard Merlin?” Aqua asked.

“Yeah, I think so,” Riku nodded.

“This ‘terrible battle’ doesn't sound good,” Kairi frowned, trying to look over Sora’s other shoulder. 

_“Master Yen Sid has decided that this must be done, though why is unclear to me. This may be a bit unbelievable, but I have sent you from different times into a sort of pocket space. Here you will be able to take as much time as you need to finish your task. You will watch memories through a new technology Chip and Dale has been working on. Instructions are on the box, no worries. Once you watch all of them (there’s quite a lot), you will go back to your original time periods._

_Be warned, you cannot spoil things for those who were not there. Once it happens on-screen, then it can be discussed. Also, you can’t summon your weapons, and only Aqua, Terra, and Ven are allowed to mention them beforehand!_

_P.S.: Yes, Axel. You, Roxas, and Namine are technically from a little later in time than Sora, Riku, and Kairi. I will not spoil from when your other companions are, however._

_Merlin the Wizard”_

“Watching… Memories?” Sora asked, trying to follow along with Merlin’s cryptic words. 

“Sounds fishy to me.” Terra declared, his scowl deepening. 

“Well,” Aqua said. “If this really is Merlin, perhaps it is not so far-fetched.”

“Besides,” Namine said. “Watching memories is not totally impossible, though I’m a little confused about the time travel thing.” 

Kairi sighed. “It’s not like we have a choice now that we’re here. If the only way to leave is to watch them, then we’ll just have to do it.”

“Certainly can’t leave through the doors. We already tried that. They won’t budge.” Terra agreed. 

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Ven asked, running over to the odd device. Everyone made their way over, some with more enthusiasm than others. 

“So, what fancy toys do you fight with?” Axel asked as he casually made his way over.

“I guess there is no harm in telling you. We’re keyblade wielders.” Aqua said.

“Woah!” Sora grinned from where he had crouched by the weird box. “So-” his lips kept moving but there were no words coming out. He paused; why couldn’t he speak?

“I guess that’s what Merlin meant by no spoilers,” Roxas sighed.

“Aww, no fair,” Sora complained. Why did he have to keep secrets but not them?

“I’m sure there’s plenty they can’t tell us, either,” Riku rolled his eyes. Sora perked up a bit and nodded. “Now, are you going to help or not?”

After a few minutes of arguing between Sora and Riku, the device sprung to life, eliciting a cheer from the younger. Eagerly, he opened the box that apparently held the data files in order. The first one in the box merely had the title ‘Kingdom Hearts’ on it, with a picture of Sora and the others on the front.

“Is this about us, Riku?”

“Probably,” Riku answered as he made his way to sit on the couch. He, Sora, and Kairi sat on the center couch in that order, with Axel, Roxas, and Namine to their left and Terra, Aqua, and Ven to their right.

Once everyone settled, Sora hit the tiny red ‘play’ button and ran to his seat.

**_(For the transcript I’m using Kingdom Hearts Final Mix (All English Cutscenes) and Kingdom Hearts Game Movie (All Cutscenes) HD 1.5 Remix 1080p from Youtube. )_ **

The screen opened to a dark, thundering sky. A flash of light revealed the words ‘Kingdom Hearts’. 

“Why do these have titles?” Ven asked, scratching his head.

“Who knows,” Terra shrugged.

**The words zoomed-in, fading to dark. Then, a close up of a sleeping face appeared, though who was unidentifiable. The screen pulled back to show Sora, briefly opening his eyes before letting his head fall back.**

“Is that me? I don’t remember this,” Sora frowned, crossing his arms as he tried to think. Nope, nothing.

“You look younger here,” Aqua pointed out.

“This was about a year ago; he was fourteen,” Riku sighed.

Kairi grimaced. “So are we going to watch what happened when…?” 

“Probably,” Sora nodded, then winced himself. His first journey to save the worlds, while it had its good moments, still wasn’t something he liked to reflect on. He knew it was worse for Riku and Kairi, given their predicaments at the time. It didn’t even feel like a year ago to Sora. “But that doesn’t change that I don’t remember this!”

“It might become clearer,” Namine suggested. “If we watch a bit more.”

**Words appeared once more. ‘I’ve been having these weird thoughts, lately,’ as narrated by younger Sora. The words quickly fade, ‘having’ and ‘weird’ being briefly highlighted. The words ‘real or not’ momentarily slide across the screen with the word ‘weird’. More golden words show up, ‘like is any of this for real, or not?’ also narrated by Sora. The words ‘real’ and the ‘?’ are highlighted this time.**

“That’s odd,” Axel said.

“The visuals or what he said?”

“Both.”

Sora hummed in thought. “Those words sound familiar, but… maybe this is a dream? I’ve never been very good at remembering those.”

“You mean you’ve never been very good at remembering,” Riku joked, smirking. 

“Hey!”

**Sora was falling in darkness, a soft light shining down on him. This continued for a few different angles before he fell into the screen, appearing on a beach. (The song ‘Simple and Clean’ began during this scene.)**

“Oh! It’s the islands,” Kairi said. 

“This has to be a dream,” Roxas decided.

“Yeah,” Sora agreed. That would make the most sense. While he couldn't remember the details, Sora did recall having nightmares right before the islands fell into darkness.

Axel was nodding his head along to the beat. “This music ain’t half bad.”

“I guess no one is going to comment on the whole ‘falling in a dark abyss’ thing?” Ventus questioned. “No? Fine.”

Terra chuckled. “It is a little strange, but if it is a dream then we should expect it to be.”

**Sora looked around before noticing someone in the water. Blocking his eyes from the sun, he saw Riku.**

“Me?” Riku raised an eyebrow.

“If it’s about us,” Kairi started, “it’d only make sense you’d show up pretty early.”

“Yeah,” Sora nodded. “But why is he out there?”

Axel rolled his eyes. “I don’t know, this is your dream. How about you tell us.” 

“Hey! For the last time, I don’t remember this!”

**Sora grinned and started to go to him, but stopped as the water started to recede. He looked up in shock to see a giant wave heading straight for them. The other boy casually turned around, seemingly unbothered by the wave. He reached his hand out to Sora. Sora panicked and ran to Riku, reaching out for him. The silver-haired boy disappeared before the wave hit him. Sora was pulled under and saw Riku standing in front of him, holding his hand out once again.**

“That seems a lot like foreshadowing,” Kairi frowned. And now that she mentioned it, Sora had to agree. Riku was always just out of reach, something inevitably pushing them apart. 

“Oh, so his dream is symbolic of what will happen,” Namine concluded, a thoughtful scowl out of place on her delicate face. “Even if it’s mostly metaphorical.”

Riku hummed, uncertain. “Is that even possible, Namine?”

“Not normal,” she conceded. “But not impossible.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Aqua said. “How do you know so much about this stuff?”

“I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to tell, but let’s just say it was my job.” Aqua and Terra didn’t seem satisfied with this answer but dropped the subject. Sora was grateful for that. Even if he didn’t remember much about Namine or her role in his journey, Riku, Roxas, and Axel seemed put off by the topic. It must not have been good memories.

**Again, the brunette tried to grab his hand, but an unseen force pulled him away. Sora then emerged out of the water. Kairi was spotted on the beach, waving and calling out to him.**

“Look, it’s Kairi!” 

Riku chuckled. “We see that, Sora.”

“Maybe I should cut my hair again,” Kairi hummed in thought. “I liked it shorter.”

**He waved back and went to her. She seemed amused but was distracted by something behind Sora. He straightened and turned to see what looked to be a person falling along with a meteor shower.**

“Is that a person?” Aqua asked. She was slightly concerned, seeing as people didn’t just fall from the sky like that.

Sora, however, was practically bouncing in his seat as he realized something. “Hey, Riku! That’s just like…”

“I’m sorry,” Terra interrupted. “You’ve seen people _fall from the sky_ before?”

“Uh…”

“Yeah, multiple times,” Riku answered for Sora. Everyone except Sora and Kairi looked at Riku wide-eyed. Riku, for his part, was rather nonplussed. 

“I knew about …” Roxas said. “But multiple times?”

“Yeah.”

“Just making sure.”

**Kairi seemed shocked. The screen transitions to show the falling person is Sora.**

“Well, that is new,” Sora admitted.

Roxas scoffed. “How are you so calm seeing yourself fall from the sky?”

“It’s a dream,” Sora said. “Sure, they're scary, but they can’t actually hurt you.”

Axel nearly choked on the irony, but quickly remembered that Sora hadn’t taken the Mark of Mastery before he said anything. 

“Besides, Namine said this was mostly metaphorical.”

“Keyword being mostly.”

**Sora was shocked as he also realized. He fell back, and Kairi’s worried face was shown briefly before going back to Sora. He reached up to Kairi who was reaching back, but she disappeared with a ripple effect.**

Sora re-entered the water and down into the darkness where he was in the beginning. 

“Oh, lovely,” Axel snarked. “All that just to end up back here.”

“That was kind of pointless,” Terra agreed.

**He sank before turning to land on his feet. He looked around, confused as he took a step. This triggered the darkness to peel away in the form of white birds, and Sora watched them fly into the abyss. The scene pulled out to reveal a stained glass ‘station’ of Snow white.**

“Wow, pretty,” Kairi gasped.

Ventus, meanwhile, was thinking hard. “That place kind of looks familiar. But… also not.”

“Ven,” Aqua gave a soft smile. “You’re not making much sense.”

“That’s the image of one of the Princesses of Heart,” Riku frowned. “You saw them in your dreams even before… ?”

Sora shrugged, relaxing his hands behind his head. “I guess? I keep telling you that I don’t remember this.”

“Though, something tells me this is more than just a dream,” Namine said with a frown.

“Riku,” Terra said. “How do you know what a Princess of Heart is, much less what one of them looks like?”

“Spoilers!” Kairi interjected. Riku gave her a nod in thanks for saving him from coming up with an answer.

Aqua cleared her throat. “If we could continue?”


	2. Destiny Islands Pt.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Disclaimer: Don't own anything to do with Kingdom Hearts. All goes to Disney, Square Enix, and Tetsuya Nomura.  
> \- I will be slipping in headcanons or other things I'm not 100% sure are confirmed canon. I'll list them here when I do. For this chapter, there is the 'voice' at the beginning which I'm pretty sure was implied to be Vanitas' at the end of KHIII (or was it Re:mind?). I will be running with that, adding some of my own descriptions of the 'voice'.  
> -This should go without saying, but Kingdom Hearts is complicated. There will undoubtedly be details and lore I have missed, so I apologize in advance for any inconsistencies or OOCness. I have only beaten KHII and the Aqua storyline in BBS. I am currently playing KHIII. Everything else I know comes from second-hand playthroughs, wikis, and cutscene videos on Youtube.

**_(The following transcript was made using the video ‘Kingdom Hearts Game Movie (All Cutscenes) HD 1.5 Remix 1080p’ from Youtube)_ **

**Sora was shown looking around as eerie yet beautiful music filled the background. ‘So much to do, so little time’ a voice ‘said’.**

Everyone felt a slight shiver run down their back as the voice spoke. Or perhaps spoke was the wrong word. More like it resonated, through the abyss and washing over them as chilled as the Dark Margin itself. 

“Uh, who was that?” Ventus asked Sora, glancing at him with wide eyes. Sora, ever helpful, just shrugged.

“Don’t know.”

“Right,” Terra sighed. “Now we can add creepy voices to our growing list of concerns.”

**‘Take your time. Don’t be afraid.’**

“Yeah, right,” Axel scoffed.

“I definitely don’t feel you should be listening to whatever it says,” Kairi said. She grabbed Sora’s hand, though for his comfort or her own, was left undecided.

“I don’t know,” Ven denied. “It doesn’t seem malicious at the moment, anyway.”

Sora nodded. “Besides, I don’t think I had a lot of options.”

“All we know,” Riku declared, “is that voice wasn’t from anything ‘light’.”

“And anything from the darkness isn’t good,” Aqua finished, with Terra agreeing. They missed the looks exchanged between the other two couches. 

“Should we be offended?” Roxas muttered.

“Eh,” Axel shrugged.

**Sora walked forward, and three decorative displays appeared out of the ground. ‘A power sleeps within you’. A staff, shield, and sword appeared on each.**

**‘If you give it form, it will give you strength.’ Sora analyzed his choices before choosing. After he did, the displays sank and disappeared. Sora backed away to the middle of the platform, and he fell as it shattered.**

“What is it with you and falling in your dreams?” Roxas groaned.

“They say falling in dreams is a sign of feeling helpless or rejected in real life,” Aqua provided.

**Cinderella’s stained glass station came into view next. When he landed, little shadow monsters appeared, but so did Sora’s weapon of choice. He proceeded to fight and defeat the little shadows.**

“That’s another princess,” Kairi whispered, feeling a bit sad she hadn’t seen any of them in a year. Even though they had only met briefly, their shared status as Princesses of Heart gave them a sense of camaraderie.

“What are those?” Aqua gasped, momentarily putting a hand on Ven’s arm protectively. Terra and Ven gave their own gasps. The others couldn’t help but look over at the trio curiously since they didn’t think it was possible for anyone to not know what a heartless was; especially a keyblade wielder.

“You’ve never seen … before?” Sora asked, not even noticing his voice cutting out.

Riku hummed as they shook their heads. “I didn’t think it was possible for someone to have not seen …”

“There isn’t a single place perfectly protected against them,” Namine agreed.

**However, the platform was then covered in inky darkness. Sora struggled but eventually sank.**

“Sora!” Kairi cried. Now, she was definitely clutching his hand for her own comfort. 

Aqua brought a hand to her face. “Oh no.”

“You guys,” Sora groaned. “I’m still here and I still don’t remember this ever actually happening.”

**He was on a pink station with hearts. There was a lone door on the same station. Sora managed to open the door, but beyond it was nothing but a bright light. Ever trusting, Sora walked through it.**

“At least you’re okay,” Kairi sighed, releasing his hand.

Axel laughed. “Until he, you know, just waltzed through a random door he found.”

“Hey,” Sora said, shaking a fist. “I’ll have you know that door look very trustworthy!”

“You’re too trusting, got it memorized?”

**‘The day you will open the door is both far off and very near.’**

“Why is the mysterious voice so cryptic?” Roxas, Sora, and Ventus questioned together.

“It is starting to get annoying,” Terra agreed.

Aqua tapped her face in thought. “What does that even mean?”

“I have some ideas,” Namine offered, looking to Riku for confirmation. “But I wouldn’t be able to tell you what they are. Spoilers.”

Riku just nodded. He himself could think of a scenario or two that would fit the bill. Namine, having actually seen Sora's memories, would likely be able to come up with even more.

**The screen transitioned from Sora back to the platform. This time it was mainly golden, the princess Belle being the center focus. As Sora walked forward, the music got more dramatic.**

**‘The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes’.**

“That doesn’t sound good,” Riku muttered. Kairi grabbed Sora’s hand again. Everyone was put on edge, not only by the voice’s eerie words but also the condescending, almost mocking tone the voice took on. 

**The camera pans away to show his elongated shadow. The shadow then rises from the station. Sora backs away.**

**‘But don’t be afraid’.**

**There’s a few shots of the monster, revealing it to be a Darkside.**

“Oh my goodness,” Aqua gripped Ven and Terra’s hands. “They get bigger.”

“I can’t say much, but this isn’t the worst of them,” Riku sighed. He was worried for Sora, dream or not, but at least a Darkside was more bark than bite usually. 

Roxas, however, wasn’t even paying attention. He tapped his chin in thought. “Now that I think about it, this feels kind of like deja vu. I might’ve had a dream like this one.”

“Might have?” Axel repeated.

“I don’t really remember.”

**‘And don’t forget…’ Sora tries to run away and almost falls at the edge of the platform. The camera pans up the monster, and he attempts to fight it with his weapon of choice.**

“Don’t forget what?” Axel asks.

**After a brief fight, Sora jumps back, but his weapon disappears.**

“Uh oh,” Namine frowns. She had already glimpsed the dream when she was repairing his memories, but it was still quite tense to see.

“Pretty sure you needed that,” Ven quips nervously.

**The giant shadow monster slams his hands down, looming over the boy. A puddle of darkness is shown manifesting under him. Another shot is shown of the Darkside’s face.**

**‘-Don’t be afraid’ is on the screen once more in shaky text. Sora is shown, his leg being engulfed in darkness.**

“But that’s terrifying!”

“What do you mean ‘don’t be afraid’?”

“Sora!”

**‘You hold the mightiest weapon of all’. He was struggling as he was consumed, the monster still above him.**

“The mightiest weapon?” Aqua asked.

Sora went to answer but no sound left when he opened his mouth. He tried a few more times but to no avail. So he settled to pout instead.

Chuckling, Riku answered for him. “We can’t really answer that.”

**‘So don’t forget:’ the voice repeated. The darkness covered Sora’s face.**

**‘You are the one who will open the door.’**

“Open… the door?” Ven asked, more to himself than anything.

**The screen faded to a blue sky, the sun high. Focusing on Sora’s face, he blinked sleepily as he sat up and yawned. Laying back down, he was interrupted by Kairi materializing above him. “Woah!”**

There were chuckles and sighs of relief.

“So it really was a dream,” Aqua sighed. She may have just met Sora but she could tell he was a good person. Combined with the fact that he reminded her of Ven, Aqua felt concerned for his well-being.

“I remember this,” Kairi said.

“Yeah,” Riku snarked. “Because this happened practically every day.”

**Kairi laughed as he turned around. “Gimme a break, Kairi.”**

“Never going to happen,” Riku and Kairi said at the same time.

**“Sora, you lazy bum. I knew I’d find you snoozing down here.” She leaned in to emphasize her point.**

**“No!” Sora insisted. “This huge, black THING swallowed me up! I couldn’t breath, I couldn’t - Ow!” He winced as Kairi whacked his head.**

“I thought you said you didn’t remember that dream,” Axel joked.

“I don’t now,” Sora said. “That was over a year ago!”

Aqua frowned as younger Sora described his dream. “It sounds awful when you put it like that.”

**“Are you still dreaming?” Kairi asked cheekily.**

“Wow, Kairi,” Roxas said. “Savage.”

**“It wasn’t a dream! Or was it? I don’t know.” Sora looked down, dejected. The camera pans over the sea as Sora continues. “What was that place? So bizarre.”**

“The words at the beginning are making a little more sense now, at least,” Terra frowned.

Ven nodded. “Yeah, but what _was_ that place?”

“I don’t think I ever found out,” Sora said, having heard them.

**“Yeah sure.” Kairi said, snapping Sora out of his thinking.**

**Kairi starts to walk away.**

**“Say, Kairi,” Sora begins. “What was your hometown like. You know, where you grew up?”**

“You’re not from Destiney Islands?” Ven asked. Aqua was about to scold him for asking potentially sensitive questions when Kairi stopped her.

“It’s okay,” she said. “And I’m not. I’ve lived most of my life there, though, so it’s my home regardless.”

**Kairi could be seen facing the ocean. “I’ve told you before; I don’t remember.”**

“I don’t remember much about my life before I came here, either,” Ventus told her.

“That must suck.” 

“Sora!”

Ven just chuckled. “I guess. It’s not so bad, because as Kairi said, this is my home whether or not I came from somewhere else.”

**“Nothing at all?”**

**“Nothing.”**

**Sora was sitting behind Kairi. “Do you ever want to go back?”**

**“Well, I’m happy here.”**

**“Really...”**

“What was that supposed to mean?” Axel asked.

Sora rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh, it’s just… we were putting so much effort into leaving on the raft, into leaving the island, that it felt like she was avoiding the subject.”

“Well,” Kairi giggled. “I was, but I also wasn’t lying.”

**“But you know… I wouldn’t mind going to see it.” Kairi’s smiled.**

**“I’d like to see it too. Along with any other worlds out there.” The screen focused on Sora’s face. “I want to see them all!”**

Axel smirked. “That’s pretty ambitious of you.”

“Especially considering you didn’t even have a working raft yet,” Namine smiled.

“Hey,” Sora said. “It was hard not to be, with … talking about it all the time. I don’t really remember a day when that wasn’t the goal.”

Terra raised an eyebrow at the three islanders. Aqua opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but he beat her to it. “Just out of curiosity, how do you three even know about other worlds? They’re supposed to be a secret.”

“Oh, yeah,” Sora said. “That’s right. Uh, someone said something about that once.”

Riku tried to answer, but nothing came out. “It … just wasn’t a hard conclusion to come to on the island.”

**It switches back to Kairi. “Then what are we waiting for?”**

“Wow, Kairi,” Roxas said as Axel wheezed. “Just going to leave Riku like that.”

**“Hey!” Kairi looks behind Sora. A foot came into view. “Aren’t you guys forgetting about me?”**

**“So,” Riku shakes his head. “I guess I’m the only one working on the raft.” He throws the log he has at Sora as he walks up to Kairi. “And you’re just as lazy as he is.”**

**“So you’ve noticed,” she giggled. “Okay, so we’ll finish it together. I’ll race you!”**

**“Huh?”**

**“What, are you kidding?”**

“Not up for a competition?” Aqua asked. “You two seemed like you’d be into that.”

“Oh, trust me,” Kairi told her. “They are. They were just being particularly lazy that day.”

**“Ready? Go!” Both boys jumped up and started running. The two were side by side competing for first, while Kairi trailed behind, giggling.**

“See?” 

“It looks like fun,” Ven said. Roxas nodded in agreement.

“It was,” Sora agreed.

“So,” Aqua said, a lightly mischievous smile gracing her face. “Who won?”

Riku smirked. “I usually won.”

“Did not!”

“He kinda did.”

“Kairi!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Facts:
> 
> \- Did you know that my google docs stop wanting to work between 7 - 12 pages in? I had to use two separate documents for this chapter alone, and I still didn't get as far as I wanted to. Oh, well.  
> \- I had originally planned to just put all the games into this one fic. I quickly realized that wasn't going to work seeing as I'm not even 30 minutes into 5 hours of cutscenes. I dread to think about KHII, which if I'm not mistaken is past the 10-hour mark.  
> -Also, I can't promise consistent updates, especially not every day like this. I'm just trying to avoid responsibility right now and this is a great outlet. So enjoy it while it lasts I guess.


	3. Destiny Islands Pt.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Disclaimer: Don't own anything to do with Kingdom Hearts. All goes to Disney, Square Enix, and Tetsuya Nomura.  
> \- Kingdom Hearts is a big and complicated series. There will undoubtedly be details and lore I have missed or forgotten, so I apologize in advance for any inconsistencies or OOCness. I have only beaten KHII and the Aqua storyline in BBS. I am currently playing KHIII. My memories for some games, such as 3D, are spotty at best so bear with me.

**_(The following transcript was made using the video ‘Kingdom Hearts Game Movie (All Cutscenes) HD 1.5 Remix 1080p’ from Youtube)_ **

**The scene faded, showing Sora and Kairi sitting on a curved palm tree at dusk. Riku was leaning up against it. “So,” Sora said to the others. “Kairi’s home is out there somewhere, right?”**

**“Could be,” Riku agreed. “We’ll never know by staying here.”**

“Well, that’s true,” Namine agreed.

“I mean,” Axel said. “Where else would it be?”

“That’s not what I had meant and you know it.”

**“But how far could a raft take us?”**

Roxas looked at his other incredulously. “You are just asking this now?”

**Riku waved off the question. “Who knows. If we have to, we’ll think of something else.”**

“When?” Terra scoffed. “Once you’re stranded in the middle of nowhere?”

Riku groaned. Sora and Kairi looked a bit sheepish at their younger selves’ naivety. “Give it a rest; we were fourteen-and-fifteen-year-old kids with big ideas. We didn’t know any better.”

“How old are you now, if you don’t mind me asking,” Aqua asked.

“I’m fifteen,” Sora said. “Kairi is also fifteen and Riku is sixteen.”

“Then you are still kids.”

“We, well, we haven’t been kids in a while,” Riku said. Aqua was a bit concerned as to what that meant, and so were her friends, but she didn’t question further. She doubted he’d be allowed to answer even if he was willing.

**“So, suppose you get to another world. What would you do there?” Kairi cut in.**

**“Well, I haven’t really thought about it.” Riku admitted.**

“Really? _You_ haven’t thought about something?” Axel stared in disbelief at the silver-haired boy. “I never took you for the type.”

He let out a dry chuckle. “Is that so?” It still felt like yesterday he’d been so foolish as to let the heartless into destiny islands, and for what? A little adventure? He’d been so sure of himself back then; pushing boundaries without fear or thought of consequences.

“He was,” Kairi said. “But Riku changed. We’ve all changed since … this happened.”

“But that’s not a bad thing,” Sora added.

**“It’s just,” Riku continued. “I’ve always wondered why we’re here on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds; then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So, we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?” he finished, looking over at them.**

“That’s deep,” Ventus said.

Aqua looked over at Riku. “It is a fair question. Do you know the answer?”

“Sort of,” he said. “Enough.”

**“I don’t know,” Sora replied, turning to lay down on the tree.**

Axel snorted. “Eloquent, Sora. Brought tears to my eyes.”

“Hey! What was I supposed to say?”

“What about: ‘how insightful, Riku’,” Riku provided.

Kairi laughed, dramatically placing a hand on Sora’s shoulder. “You’re so wise, Riku!”

“Wha - no way!” Sora said, a laugh betraying his ‘angry’ pout.

**“Exactly. That’s why we need to go out there and find out. Just sitting here won’t change a thing. It’s the same old stuff. So let’s go.”**

**“You’ve been thinking a lot lately, haven’t you?” Kairi asked.**

“See, Sora,” Kairi grinned. “You could’ve responded like that.”

“Kairi,” Sora groaned, letting his head fall back. They were going to be teasing him a lot during this, he could feel it.

**“Thanks to you,” Riku turned to her. “If you hadn’t come here, I probably never would have thought of any of this. Kairi, thanks.”**

“But how did she showing up imply the existence of other worlds?” Terra questioned Riku.

He thought for a moment. “It didn’t. Just … confirmed it, rather.”

“Confirmed?” Sora asked. He looked to Kairi, who just shrugged.

“I’ll tell you later.”

**“You’re welcome.”**

**The three of them are walking back across the bridge, with Kairi in the lead and Riku trailing behind.**

**“Sora!” Riku calls, prompting him to turn around. He catches the star-shaped fruit thrown at him.**

**“You wanted one, didn’t you?”**

**“A Paopu fruit…”**

“Oh,” Aqua said. “I’ve heard of those!”

Kairi tilted her head. “You have?”

“They were mentioned in one of the books in the library. A lovely story.”

“There are books that mention the islands?” Riku raised an eyebrow.

“Just one. It was written by a past keyblade wielder.”

**“If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined,” Riku said as he passed Sora. “They’ll remain a part of each other’s lives, no matter what. Come on, I know you want to try it.”**

**“What are you talking -” Sora asked but was cut off by Riku’s laugh. He tosses the fruit away and races after Riku.**

Kairi smiled softly as she watched their younger selves interact. To think they’d ever been unsatisfied with island life when now it was all they wanted to get back. Of course, some part of her was aware they could never truly go back after a taste of freedom, especially not Riku. And Sora had too many friends he’d want to see. And she’d try to follow them like always.

Roxas felt odd watching the scene. Perhaps it was his connection to Sora, but he felt a sort of longing. Longing for a life he never had, would never have. He also felt a bit of nostalgia thinking of the beach. He used to visit the islands while in the organization, now that he thought about it, but he couldn't remember why.

The wayfinder trio were reminded of their friendship. Riku, Kairi, and Sora were like Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, respectively. Aqua and Terra couldn’t help but think fondly of their time with Ven. They couldn’t imagine it without him.

**The scene transitions to a large, blue, yellow, and white castle. Drums and trumpets can be heard. A duck in mage clothes can be seen walking down a hall, passing an enchanted broom as he goes.**

“A … duck?” Terra asked. Sure, he was aware there were many worlds and many possibilities, but knowing and seeing were two different things. 

“Look! A magic broom,” Ven pointed excitedly.

“Yeah,” Sora said. “That’s … er, I can’t tell you yet but they're cool!”

**The duck mage knocks on a large set of purple doors, in turn opening a smaller door within the bigger ones.**

“What’s the point of that?” Roxas asked.

Sora shrugged. “Not a clue”

“Maybe they just like fancy doors,” Ven suggested to Axel’s obvious disbelief.

“But why not just get small fancy doors?”

“Because big fancy doors are better.”

Namine giggled. “Can’t argue with that, I suppose.”

**“Good morning, Your Majesty,” the duck greets as he makes his way toward the throne. “It’s nice to see you this morn - WHAT?!”**

Riku chuckled. That was just like Mickey. 

**A yellow dog peaks around the empty throne, a letter in his mouth. The duck reads the letter and runs out of the throne room in a panic. In the garden, he finds a dog in armor sleeping.**

Now, everyone was laughing at his panic. They could understand what would be concerning about a royal disappearance, but his reaction was still hilarious.

“Anthropomorphic dog knight,” Terra mumbled. “Why not.”

**“Wake up, Goofy, wake up! This is serious!!” The dog knight does not wake up but instead lets out a loud snore.**

“I don’t think that’s going to work,” Sora said through his laughter.

**The duck is angered by this, so he summons lightning to strike Goofy awake. Goofy looks around, confused, before seeing the duck. “Hey there, Donald. G’morning.”**

**“We’ve got a problem, Goofy! But don’t tell anyone,” Donald tells him.**

“That sounds pretty serious,” Terra said.

“Well,” Aqua replied. “Their king did run away without telling anyone. I would hope that would involve something very important.”

**Goofy looks surprised. “Queen Minnie?”**

**“Not even the Queen!”**

“Not even the Queen?” Ven repeated, looking wide-eyed at how important it was.

**“Daisy?”**

**“No, it’s top secret.”**

“Then why yell about it in the middle of the garden?” Axel asked.

**“G’morning, ladies.” At this Donald stops and slowly turns around. Behind him is Queen Minnie and Daisy, the latter of which clears her throat and puts her hands on her hips. Donald lets out a nervous laugh.**

Everyone laughed.

“Uh oh,” Roxas said.

“This,” Axel said, gesturing wildly with his hands. “Is why we don’t yell about secrets in the middle of a garden. Especially one owned by the person not supposed to know.”

Sora laughed some more. It was just such a ‘Donald’ thing to happen. Poor Donald.

 **The screen changes once again to show a cave drawing of Sora and Kairi. Sora touches it, thinking back to when he and Kairi first drew them.** ’

“Look at them! They’re tiny,” Axel teased.

“They are,” Namine agreed

“They’re cute,” Aqua added.

“Guys!”

“Look, you’ve embarrassed them,” Riku laughed.

**Once the flashback is done, he sits and starts adding on to the drawing. It’s revealed to be Sora giving Kairi a Paupu.**

“That’s so cute,” Aqua said.

Sora groaned and put his head in his hands. Why couldn’t it have skipped that? Kairi also blushed, wondering something similar. 

**“Wh-who’s there?” He turned.**

“You never mentioned this,” Kairi accused, worriedly looking at Sora. Normally, a strange encounter on the Island wouldn’t have been too concerning, if not a little weird. But this was only a day or two before their Island was destroyed and everything went to crap. 

“I didn’t think much of it at the time,” Sora said. “It was just weird.”

“Sora,” Riku narrowed his eyes. “Was it…”

“I think so, but I don’t know.”

**“I’ve come to see the door to this world.”**

Aqua, Terra, and Ventus looked at each other, concerned. That didn’t sound like anything good.

Axel just threw his hands up. “Please tell me you didn’t just stand around talking to a creepy stranger?”

**“Huh?”**

**“This world has been connected.”**

“Connected?” Aqua asked. She had some idea of what that could mean, and she hoped she was wrong.

**“Wh-what are you talking about?”**

**“Tied to the darkness, soon to be completely eclipsed.”**

“That isn’t good,” Terra said, scowling at the screen. He might not have read like Aqua but he was still Master Eraqus’ apprentice, so he was aware of what that implied. He didn’t like it.

“You’re telling me,” Riku sighed.

“He didn’t do anything, right?”

No one answered. 

Sora scowled at the memory, a familiar sense of anger rising. He had been told exactly what was going to happen because that thing knew he couldn’t do anything about it, because it knew he wouldn’t understand. He had been toyed with for no reason other than he could be. Sora was getting sick of that.

**“Well, whoever you are, stop freaking me out like this. Huh? Where did you come from?” Sora finally caught sight of the misshapen, brown cloaked figure in the shadows.**

“That’s creepy,” Roxas said. He knew bits and pieces of what had happened to Sora, having an inkling into his memories since they recompleted, but he hadn’t seen much from before Sora’s adventures. He just knew something happened to send the Destiny Islands into darkness and throw Sora into his adventure.

“Is that even a person,” Ven agreed, eyeing the figure's weird shape.

Riku shook his head. Of course Ansem was there. Apparently, he didn’t have anything better to do than bother innocent kids.

**“You do not know what lies beyond the door.”**

**“So, you’re from another world!”**

“Really,” Terra raised an eyebrow. “ _That’s_ what you got out of that?”

**“There is so very much to learn. You understand so little.”**

**“Oh, yeah? Well, you’ll see. I’m gonna get out and learn what’s out there!”**

‘That we did. But, was it worth it?’ was the general thought process of the island trio. They didn’t really know.

**“A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing.”**

“What does that even mean!” Ventus yelled, flopping back on the couch with a weary sigh. The thing was starting to get on his nerves with his cryptic nonsense. 

Roxas turned to his other. He recognized pointless taunting when he saw it. And while he wasn’t Sora (but he kind of was, a traitorous voice reminded him), it still felt offensive on some personal level or another. “Did he call you dumb?”

“He did!”

“Not much we can do about that now,” Kairi said, placing a hand on Sora’s shoulder to placate him. Namine did something similar with Roxas, which Riku was grateful for. Having seen both Roxas and Sora angry before, Riku figured having one of them ticked off at an enemy they couldn’t hit was bad enough, never mind two. And with both them hyping each other up it wouldn’t turn out well.

And with the look on Ven’s face, he would probably join them.

**Sora turns to look at the door in the back of the cave. The scene fades out.**

“That’s it?”

**Sora is seen running down the beach to a decently built raft. Kairi can also be seen standing on it.**

**“What’s that?” Sora asked.**

**“This? I’m making a necklace out of Thalassa shells. In the old day, sailors always wore Thalassa shells. They were supposed to ensure a safe voyage. See this?” Kairi showed him a half-finished lucky charm. “It’s a charm to help us find each other if we ever get separated. The three of us will always be together.”**

“I made the three of us something similar,” Aqua said, pulling a blue star charm made out of glass and metal. “We don’t have shells here, but I did what I could.”

Kairi motioned for Riku to pass it over to her, getting a good look at it. “That’s so cool! You made one for all three of you?”

“Yeah,” she said, taking the charm back. Terra and Ven pulled theirs out as well so Kairi could see. 

**Next, Sora and Kairi are shown sitting on the docks, watching the sunset.**

**“You know, Riku has changed,” Kairi said.**

“Wow, talking about me behind my back?” Riku teased, though he couldn’t blame them. He had changed.

“It wasn’t like that and you know it.”

**“What do you mean?”**

**“Well,” she thought out loud.**

**“You okay?”**

**“Sora, let’s take the raft and go - just the two of us!”**

“You seem really intent on leaving me behind, you know.”

“Sorry,” Kairi apologized despite Riku’s light tone. “I just wanted a reaction out of Sora.”

“Hey!”

**“Huh?” Sora looked over at Kairi in confusion.**

**Kairi giggled. “Just kidding.”**

**“What’s gotten into you? You’re the one who’s changed, Kairi.”**

**“Maybe. You know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I’m ready. No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here. Right?”**

**“Yeah, of course!”**

“You sounded so sure,” Riku said with a small wince. 

“Yeah,” Sora sighed, shoulders slumping. “We didn’t know anything back then.”

Aqua, Terra, and Ven looked on concerned. They of course knew they would get their answers eventually, but that didn’t stop the want to ask now. Axel, Roxas, and Namine also winced in sympathy for young Sora’s naivety. 

**“That’s good.”**

**“Sora,” Kairi continued. “Don’t ever change.”**

Sora couldn’t help but frown a little. While he hadn’t changed as much as Riku, he certainly wasn’t the same. He hadn’t thought much about it before but his younger self felt like a lifetime away.

**Sora was visibly confused as she stood and continued talking. “I just can’t wait. Once we set sail, it’ll be great.”**

**Next, a cluttered desk is shown, a few pieces of paper and some letters visible. The screen is dark, as if shadowed by something. The text ‘Donald,’ appears.**

“This must be the King’s letter,” Namine pointed out.

“Finally,” Aqua said. “We’ll get some answers.”

**‘Sorry to rush off without saying goodbye, but there’s big trouble brewin’. Don’t know why, but the stars have been blinkin’ out, one by one.’**

“Blinking out?” Terra scowled, concerned. 

“That’s possible?” Ven asked.

“Why haven’t we heard anything of this?” Aqua gasped, bringing a hand to her mouth. She looked to the others, but they just shrugged.

“We didn’t even know you guys existed,” Sora looked to Riku. “You heard of them?”

Riku shook his head. “No.”

“The … never heard a thing either. Or, at least, a certain someone never said anything if he did,” Axel added. 

Aqua looked down in thought. “Something isn’t right here.”

 **‘And that means disaster can’t be far behind. I hate to leave you all but I’ve gotta go check into it. There’s someone with a “key” - the key to our survival.**

“A keyblade?” Aqua looked conflicted. She didn’t understand why the three of them hadn’t known anything about worlds ‘blinking out’, much less been asked to help. And the King mentioned a ‘key’ in the singular - implying only one keyblade wielder. Aqua knew of at least five. What was going on?

Sora attempted to answer, but no sound came out. Riku rolled his eyes and those that knew nodded in confirmation for Aqua.

**‘So I need you and Goofy to find him, and stick with him. Got it? We need that key or we’re doomed! So go to Traverse Town and find Leon. He’ll point you in the right direction. P.S. Would ya apologize to Minnie for me? Thanks, pal.’**

**Daisy, Donald, Goofy, and Queen Minnie can be seen standing in the study. “Oh dear, what could this mean?” Daisy asked.**

“That’s what we’ve been asking,” Ven said, drooping.

**“It means we’ll just have to trust the King,” Queen Minnie said.**

**“Gawrsh, I sure hope he’s all right.” Goofy worried.**

**“Your Highness,” Donald addressed. “Don’t worry. We’ll find the King and this ‘key’.”**

**“Thank you, both of you.”**

**“Daisy, can you take care of the -”**

**“Of course. You be careful, now, both of you.”**

**“Oh,” Queen Minnie said. “And to chronicle your travels, he will accompany you.” She gestured over to the desk, but there didn’t seem to be anyone there.**

“Uh,” Roxas searched the screen. “Who exactly?”

“He can be a bit hard to spot if you don’t know what you’re looking for,” Sora admitted.

**Donald looked around before a little green guy could be seen jumping on the desk. “Over here! Cricket’s the name. Jiminy Cricket, at your service.” he tipped his hat.**

“He’s so small.”

**“We hope for your safe return. Please help the king.” Minnie said.**

**Donald saluted the queen. Goofy was shown standing beside the ladies, saluting as if he was seeing him off. “You’re coming, too!”**

Sora grinned at his friend’s antics. “That’s such a Goofy thing to do.”

“In more ways than one,” Axel snickered.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing, don’t worry about it.”

“You know them well?” Aqua interrupted their banter, having caught the fondness in Sora’s voice.

“Yeah, we … or, I can’t say. But we do know each other.”

Aqua accepted that. “I see.”

**“Gawrsh, Jiminy,” Goofy could be heard saying. “Your world disappeared, too?”**

“Disappeared?” Ventus repeated, his voice soft. Terra and Aqua were tense and focused on the screen. Riku lowered his head as Kairi and Sora were disheartened at the reminder. Axel, Roxas, and Namine also couldn’t help but feel a little upset, despite two of them not even existing at the time.

**“It was terrible, we were scattered,” Jiminy said. He was sitting on top of Goofy’s helmet as he and Donald walked down some stairs. “And as far as I can see, I’m the only one who made it to this castle.”**

“That sounds awful,” Ventus whispered.

“Why didn’t we know,” Aqua repeated but no one had an answer.

**“Goofy?”**

**“Oh, right,” Goofy said. “I gotcha. While we’re in other worlds, we can’t let on where we’re from. We’ve gotta protect the world border.”**

“I don’t think that’s the right word,” Riku said.

**“Order.”**

**“Right. World order.” Goofy laughs. Donald gives an exasperated sigh. “I guess we’ll need new duds when we get there, huh?”**

“At least,” Terra tried to look on the bright side. “They know what they're doing.”

“Though, we have to wonder why they know about other worlds,” Aqua said.

**The two enter the Gummi Hangar.**

“That looks like a safety hazard,” Axel deadpanned. 

“It looks cool,” Sora corrected. Ven, Kairi, and Roxas all agreed.

“I’m with Axel on this one,” said Aqua. 

“Why do they even need giant hands,” Terra asked instead. Riku shrugged.

“Because it’s Disney Castle. And believe me, that’s a perfectly valid excuse once you know the residents.”

**Donald walked up to a yellow, trumpet-shaped object. “Hello up there? Donald Duck to launch crew!”**

**Chip saluted the device. Dale ran over and pulled a lever. The giant hands carried Goofy and Donald (who looked less than thrilled) upside down to the ship.**

A round of chuckles broke out.

**Pluto jumps into the ship as well. Queen Minnie and Daisy show up to see them off. The Mickey-shaped doors open. Donald points forward and yells “blast off”. Then, an arrow appears pointing down, and they yell as they fall down the tunnel.**

The chuckles turn into full-on laughter.

**Disney Castle is shown as the bottom opens up and the gummi ship falls out. It takes off out into space.**

**It’s nighttime, and Sora is in his bed. His room is messy, and a toy ship and dolls are hanging from his ceiling.**

“You still have that?” Kairi asked.

“Uh,” Sora blushed. “I did. I wouldn’t just throw them out, you know.”

“You’re so sentimental,” Riku smiled fondly.

**“I just can’t wait. Once we set sail, it’ll be great.” Sora reflected on what Kairi said. He then looks out the window, where lightning flashed.**

“That’s not good,” Ven worried.

“I feel like we’ve said something like that a lot.”

“Well, nothing about any of this is good.”

**“A storm? Oh, no, the raft!”**

“That’s your first concern?” Roxas asked unbelievingly.

“We put so much work into it,” Sora defended. “I wasn’t going to let a storm ruin it.”

**“Sora, dinner’s ready. Come on down. Sora?”**

**“What’s that?” Sora asked, looking up at a glowing dark sphere in the sky above the play island.**

“I actually agree,” Axel stared at the image on the screen. “What _is_ that?”

“It’s horrifying,” Terra supplied, just as distracted by it. Aqua was too alarmed by the scene to complain about not knowing. She pulled Ventus closer.

**He is seen getting out of his boat, taking note of the other two already there. “Riku’s boat. And Kairi’s!”**

**Just then, shadow heartless can be seen rising from the ground, shocking Sora.**

“It’s more of those things!” Ven exclaimed.

**He picks up a wooden sword that was left on the dock. Sora then makes his way through the play island, trying to hit the monsters even though his sword doesn’t touch them.**

“Does the wooden sword do nothing?” Aqua demanded tensely.

Sora shook his head. “Nope, just … specific weapons.”

“So younger you defenseless right now?”

“We don’t have to point that out,” Namine scolded. She gestured to the middle trio, who were looking progressively paler. Aqua looked away.

“Sorry.”

**Seeing Riku, Sora makes his way over the bridge to the islet. Riku has his back to Sora, eyes closed and apparently unconcerned with the darkness around him.**

“What are you doing?” Terra looked between Riku and his younger self, scrutinizing him. 

“I know I can’t spoil much,” he started. “But I should warn you before we watch further.”

“Riku -”

The older boy waved him off. “It’s okay, Sora. They’re going to see anyway.”

“See what,” Terra questioned suspiciously. Aqua gave him a look, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t concerned as well.

“I … made some bad choices. Listened to the wrong people. Thanks to Sora and Kairi, I was able to come back and try to fix my mistakes, but …” Riku trailed off, thinking.

“But you did!” Sora exclaimed. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”

“You’ve done more than enough, Riku,” Namine said.

“Then what’s the problem?” Ven, ever good-hearted and slightly oblivious, asked.

Aqua gave Terra a pointed look. “There’s not a problem; we shouldn’t judge past actions that have already been dealt with. Perhaps, we should try to get this over with as soon as possible.” Terra just nodded and returned his attention to the memories.

**“Where’s Kairi? I thought she was with you!” Sora yelled over the wind.**

**“The door has opened.” Riku said, looking up into the dark sky.**

**“What?”**

**“The door has opened, Sora!” Riku angrily turned to look at the other boy. “Now we can go to the outside world!”**

**“What are you talking about? We’ve gotta find Kairi!”**

**“Kairi’s coming with us!” Sora looks taken aback by the intensity of Riku’s declaration. “Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There’s no turning back.”**

“I sound crazy,” Riku sank into his seat, feeling tired. Kairi and Namine sent him sympathetic and concerned looks.

“Just a little,” Axel muttered to himself. Roxas, the only one who heard him, shot him a look. He might hold a grudge against the older boy, but even he knew that watching it must be unpleasant. It was uncomfortable enough for him to watch without having been there.

 **“But this may be our only chance,” He continued. “We can’t let fear stop us! I’m not afraid of the darkness!” Riku held his hand out for Sora.**

“And now?” Aqua said lightly before she could stop herself. 

“No… but for very different reasons.”

**“Riku…” the brown-haired boy said. A puddle of darkness opened up beneath Riku. The darkness began to swallow him. Sora moved forward to stop him but got stuck in the darkness just out of reach. Riku’s hand was still outstretched, and Sora tried to grab it to save his friend.**

**In the end he was unsuccessful, and for a tense second the screen was swallowed by darkness.**

“Oh no.”

**Then, a small light appeared, growing until it washed away the darkness. Sora stumbled, still on the islet. He could be seen holding the Kingdom Key, but Riku himself was gone.**

“You’re a keyblade wielder, too?” Ventus asked, slightly more subdued than usual.

Sora nodded, a slight smile on his face despite himself. “Yeah, you bet!”

Aqua appeared even more troubled if that was even possible. “And you’ve never heard of us before now?”

“No, sorry.”

She knew now wasn’t the time to ask such questions, but it was really bothering her. There was the possibility that they from a time either far before or after their company, but that wouldn’t explain they would be included in this viewing if they didn’t play a part. Something was seriously wrong.

**Sora gives his new weapon a good look before taking on the heartless that pop up.**

“At least the keyblade can hurt them,” Terra said.

**He notices a strange new door over the secret place and makes his way over.**

“Again with walking through random, mysterious doors! That just appeared with no explanation and could’ve led anywhere.”

**Once inside, Sora sees Kairi. “Kairi!” He called out, and she turned around.**

**“Sora…” she said before the door opened and darkness poured out, sending Kairi into Sora before she disappeared. The wind was too much for Sora, also throwing him out of the secret place.**

Kairi shifted even closer to Sora, grabbing his arm. She didn’t like thinking about that time, least of all when she actually lost her heart.

**Slowly picking himself up, Sora looked out to see nothing but darkness around the floating piece of the isle he was on. The dark sphere above, much closer and bigger now, was sucking debris into it.**

Everyone was too horrified or upset to comment.

**Turning around, Sora was towered over by a real Darkside. Not having many options, he summons his keyblade and fights the Darkside. After a short battle, the heartless is sucked up into the sphere.**

**Sora tried to hold on to the crumbling island but also got sucked into the ball of darkness.**

**Donald and Goofy are shown walking through a town. Goofy looked up and pointed, “look! A star is going out!”**

**Both watched as Destiny Islands fell to darkness.**

**“Come on. Let’s hurry.**

“Yes, please do,” Aqua mumbled, in shock at the fate of Destiny Islands. No one spoke up as the scene went on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Facts:
> 
> \- WE ARE FINALLY THIRTY MINUTES IN!!!! And the adventure is just getting started!  
> \- I imagine that the island trio is a little traumatized from the whole event, especially as they haven't had some time on the islands together to talk and relax yet. I don't think it's ever touched upon (maybe Riku, though I don't remember much from either CoM or 3D where such things would've been brought up) in the game.  
> \- I feel like I gave Aqua, Terra, and Ventus a lot of lines compared to the others, but unlike the others, they have absolutely no context so would have more to say.


End file.
